A big hello

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Welcome to the group, David.
I'm glad that people are beginning to participate actively on the
bionet.plants group. As plant biologists we have a lot to learn from
the molecular biologists experience of using the network, but we are
getting there gradually.
The essence of Usenet, for me, is the informal contact we make with
each other by posting to a group such as this. I began the discussions
on bionet.plants by asking people to introduce themselves and describe
their area of interest.
So, tell us something about your interest in heavy metals and taxonomy?
Ok, what am I interested in . My main interest is in how plants are able
to tolerate elevated levels of heavy metals and specifically what is the
mechanism of metals tolerance in evolved metal tolerant races. I have
looked at the formation of copper-phytochelatin (gamma(EC)nG) and
metallothionein (the protein I isolated had an amino acid composition very
similar to that predicted for the plant metallothionein gene) in copper
tolerant Mimulus guttatus inresponse to 10 micro molar Cu and the synthesis
of just phytochelatins in response to Cd. Recently I have been looking at the
mechanism involved in Cd and phytochelatin transport into the vacuole where
they appear to accumulate. I have identified a Cd/H antiport activity at the
tonoplast and am now investigateing the mechanisms of phytochelatin transport.
Well in a nut shell that is what I do.
David Salt
Botany Dept.
University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada (Botsalt at vm.uoguelph.ca)